The Daily News TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20. BACKBLOCKS CHAMPION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 254, 20 October 1908, Page 2

The Daily News TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20. BACKBLOCKS CHAMPION.

If anv member ot I'lU'liament m ->™ Zealand has honestly devoted his time aud talents to espousing the cause of the most deserving class iu the whole Douiiuion, that man is W- 'J-'- Jennings, lIP. for Tauinarumii. The persistency 01 his -advocacy of the need for improving the lot of the backblockers, at one time a subject almost for levity in the House, has triumphed over indifference, and the deserving settlements in the

hinterland of Taranaki are now receiving from the Government a measure of practical attention to roads and bridges that their unfortunate situation entitle s them to. In -season and out of season Mr. .Jennings has never ceased knockiug at the Treasury door with applications for schools, for telephones, for roads and bridges. Far he it from us to hold up as a sample of (Parliamentary success the votes of money a member might

secure for his electorate, but in such a case as Taiuuarunui the very existence of settlers depends ou an end being put to their isolation. Probably no man has travelled so extensively over the length and breadth ol Tanmaki's hinterland as Mr. Jennings, and certainly none has a fuller knowledge of I the possibilities of this extensive tract of country once it is brought into touch with outside markets, l'cw ■men would

have aspired to represent such a district, and fewer still would have continued for years, under extreme disabilities, and in the face of disappointments, to have stuck to their purpose. Mr. Jennings, on the contrary,-has never lost an opportunity, bv voice and pen, of appealing to Parliament and the Government to reeogni.se the great undeveloped assets of the backbloeks au.l the truly unfortunate position of the mud-locked settlers. During the past two sessions a noticeable change has been apparent in the attitude of Parliament towards the backbloeks. and 111? consistent champion of undeveloped New

Zealand from being regarded as a mar with a' "backblotks bee" lias hail hi: rowiinl in seeing his erstwhile liiiutereri develop into staunch supporters o'i hi; policy. The tide of forliuie. quitklj j turned when Sir. Jennings managed t< induce the Premier to make a mud pilgrimage through Tauinanmui fron Olinkuue to Kawhia, with the rcsul that the hinterland of Taranaki am Auckland has secured the record vof of public moneys for roads and bridges It is not to be wondered at, therefor? that the electors in this huge distrio are appreciative of the splendid worl performed by Mr. Jennings i n their in terests. In'enlarging on his work fo the back country, let it not be undei stood that he has neglected the require ments of the more fortunately situate centres. The new settlements on th | Main Trunk line >aud the district aroun I YVaitara .have been faithfully serve wherever there was a want to be iillei a redress needed. His claims, thereiorr for a renewal of the confidence of th electors are fully justified by result already achieved, and it will be a sin prise to us. and but little credit io th electorate, if be is not returned as n representative by a sweeping majorit;, We are not introducing tlie politics ] aspect into the question at all; we ho'.' 1 that on purely personal grounds, irrc | spective of lis political platform, n man is better entitled to a renewal o the confidence of his fellows than th I subject of this notice. We would sa ■ further, that the honorarium granted t )' Iht- representative of such an electoral' is altogether disproportionate to th ;! i arduous work demanded in a conscien ii lions performance of duty. The mer '■< j monetary consideration., theretore, can ", not weigh with any man aspiring t> ■ij represent such a seat, and especially on '{ who, having experienced the labor in it volved. declines to <lesert "the eaust l that needs assistance and the wrong? that need resistance." We have sufficient belief in the good judgment and appreciation of the sturdy men and women of the backblocks to anticipate that there need be little apprehension regarding the result of the poll in Ihe Tauniaiunui district, and that their champion will be all'urded further opportunities to win for lliem the goal of equality of opportunity and conditions of living with the more favored j! portions of this country.